Battle of Heart
by Admerxin13
Summary: I was being held. Held captive by a being known as a 'Nobody.' All I wanted to do was escape, but then I found a sanctuary, not only in this fiery man, but also in those I met... First short story. Co-authored with SuicuneLover12.
1. Prolauge

Battle of Heart

Prologue: What Hurts the Most

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_Pant, pant…I have to…reach it quick…not much time…left…_

My feet stumbled on nothing, and I was just barely able to catch myself before doing a face plant in the strange blue mist that was actually solid as a rock under my feet. It would definatly hurt if I actually fell.

Not gonna happen to me, though. Not while I've got the energy to resist fading.

I felt the aching pain on my back, and knew I was badly burned. Of course, it was all to save that little brat of a boy. If he didn't have my best friend inside of him, I would have left that douche bag Sora to his well deserved fate.

But no. I had to save Roxas, if no one else. Even though he forgot about me, and then beat the living crap out of me when he did remember. God, that had hurt me so much…

Focus. I had to get there. That one spot, where no one else would be able to find me. Not for a long, long time, long enough for me to recover, and then try again.

The pain in my back became soothing almost, and I found the strength to keep going. So close, yet so far.

_Just put…one foot…in front of…the other…you can do it, Axel…just keep moving, and you'll find a way to survive…if not for others, then for yourself at least…you've worked hard enough to earn the right to survive…_

Alright, everyone, it's short, yes. BUT, it's a small teaser. So keep looking back, 'cause more is comin'. I'm co-authoring this with SuicuneLover12, so I _think_ I'll be fine. She is good, after all. I'm just a noob...oh. T-T

^w^ kittykittykitty!!

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	2. Finding Peace and Redheads

HI!!!! Okay, now onto my first chappie! Hope you guys like it!

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Chapter 1: Finding Peace and Redheads

As the strange symbols around me danced around in the strange bluish mist, I felt a temporary sense of peace settle over me, and I sighed. The translucent floor beneath me felt solid, but was also as soft as velvet under my fingers, and it almost begged to be stroked.

Absentmindedly, I did, watching the odd-shaped symbols twist and turn in infinitely different patterns. I was in my own little world, or, to be more specific, in _between_ worlds. At least, that was the feeling I got whenever I visited this special place. A place where I could think, and no one would ever discover my innermost secrets.

Suddenly, a small breeze tickled my face and caused my dark red locks of hair to sway a bit. _That's odd,_ I thought, looking around. _There's not supposed to be any wind here… Are you imagining things again, Yuki?_

A small flicker of black to my right caught my eye, and I turned my head so that my dark green gaze caught a glimpse of someone stumble out of one black hole into another. A figure cloaked in black, but I also saw a flash of fiery red, and that's what sparked my curiosity.

Normally, I would have paused, but I had seen the strange blackness begin to fade, and before I could even give it a chance to get away, I had run through it headlong into an unknown place.

Now, I know what you're thinking: What kind of idiot is this girl? Why would she be risking her neck just to satisfy her curiosity?

Well, I've been known to be catty, and you know the old phrase 'Curiosity killed the cat'? It's the explanation of my life. Thankfully, the 'killed' part hasn't applied. Yet.

So one second, all I saw was an impenetrable blackness, and the next, I was standing in a very old style bedroom, dizzy as a dodo bird. But not too dizzy to hear someone turning the knob on the closed door that led into the room. Snapping out of it, I quickly took refuge in the only hiding spot that I saw first: the bed.

Okay a smart person would have gone_under_ the bed, right? As I said earlier, I'm not the smartest girl in the world. So I sprang under the extremely fluffy quilt, instead of being smart enough to crawl under. Fortunately, my little quick hide was just in time, for the door opened and shut as I stopped moving under the quilt enough to hide my body under.

As the person came in the room, I waited nervously, unable to still my fingers, which twitched uncontrollably. Thankfully, it wasn't enough to attract the attention of whoever it was that was walking…no, that's not the right word. The correct term would be stumbling all over themselves as they tried to reached the bed.

_Whump._

The person landed on the very soft bed and grabbed the blanket in one swift movement. They covered themselves up, and in a few moments, I heard them breathing evenly, although somewhat ragged sounding.

I waited for what seemed like an eternity, but was actually only a few minutes. When I thought the coast was clear, I tried to slip silently off the bed. Unfortunately, the instant I moved, I was pinned down by super strong arms, and pinned beneath a heavy body.

A thrill of panic forced me to look up at whoever it was that held me down. But I couldn't hold back a gasp when I saw those eyes.

Emerald. A beautiful emerald green was what I saw. I blinked, thinking that it was a trick of the light. But it wasn't, and those beautiful eyes didn't vanish. I had to force myself to look past them at the rest of his face. I saw that the person was a lanky man. His face was long and lean, with a semi-pointed chin. On his cheeks below his eyes were purple tattoos in the shape of upside-down triangles. Then I saw his hair, swept back in what I can only describe as a porcupine fashion. Not only that, but it was red. The same fiery locks that had sparked my curiosity in the first place.

It was like looking in a mirror. Well, if that particular mirror had a spell that made you look like the opposite gender.

I found myself wanting to laugh at the ridiculousness, but the expression on his face stopped me. A mixture of anger, pain, fear, and most of all, sadness. We stared at each other for a split second more, and then he saw the resemblance.

"Huh. It seems I've caught a little cat." His voice was low, ragged, and filled with mocking. It vibrated through me, and woke me from my shock. Anger flared inside of me, and I lashed out at him.

The man caught my wrist a split second before I smacked him. He grabbed my other one and held to both of them tightly. I started to struggle, but to no avail. All the time I was wearing myself out, the man chuckled darkly. It made my temper flare more, but it also made my fear increase.

"Let me go!" I cried out, fed up with this. He stopped chuckling, and then got a thoughtful look on his face. I glared up at him, which only made him laugh again.

"I mean it, asshole," I snarled through clenched teeth, itching to wipe that look off of his face. What the hell was so complicated about letting me up?

The man spoke. "I might. But how about a little deal?"

I hissed at him through my teeth. _"What?!"_

"You heard me," he said, his tone as smug as the smile on his face. "If I let you up, would you help me with a problem I've got at the moment?"

My glare deepened, and I spat at him: "Go to hell!"

He grinned, then told me, "I'd rather not, but thanks for the invitation." A puppy dog pout appeared and he said cutely, " I'm weally hurt. Can't you do this? I'll let you go after, I promise. Pwease?"

Damn it. How'd he know that I couldn't resist a puppy-pout? Stupid, girlish instincts of mine…

I turned away from his pouty face and whispered, "Fine. But only until the problem is dealt with!"

At those words, his whole face broke out into a wide grin. He rolled off of me, and I sat up, trying to adjust to the weightlessness. God, he was so freakin' heavy!

When I got off the bed and came to stand in front of him, the man handed me a box with a big red plus sign on it and said, "You'll need to use the fire bandages. They're the only ones that can withstand my body temperature." As he said it, he began to take off his leather robe-thing, then his shirt.

When I saw what was hidden underneath the fabric, I felt my heart stop, and then began to race wildly. Oh. My. God. He was freaking H-O-T! I felt my mouth drop open in astonishment, and my eyes locked onto his lean, but very muscular, chest.

He saw me freeze, looked down, back up to me, and asked, "Is something wrong?"

I blinked, and then shook my head to clear it. Okay, so he was hot? So what? _You got lucky, that's what!_ A tiny voice in my head screamed at me. I came towards him, only to see him gawking at me in much the same manner I had seconds ago. "What?" I asked.

In response, I got was a low whistle. "You're lucky I hadn't seen your figure earlier," he commented, his eyes trained on me still. "The deal would have been much, _much_ different then.

I felt heat rising in my cheeks at that last sentence. I resisted the urge to box his ears, and instead rolled my eyes and said," Very funny."

I was still nervous, and I looked down at myself. Cropped tank-top, short-shorts, and leather knee-high combat boots. All in black; this accented my pale skin, red, red ankle-length hair, green eyes and athlete's body perfectly. What was so important about it?

I tried to clear my mind as I began to rummage around in the first-aid kit, looking for the so-called 'fire bandages.' The guy waited for about two minutes before reaching in and selecting the bandages right under my hand.

"Oh. Sorry."

He held them out for me to take, but I got up and refused by saying, " What is it that got hurt, Sparky?"

He mearly laughed at his new nickname, then turned enough for me to see the huge burn on his back. It was large, taking up almost all of his back, and was still fresh, red as his hair almost. I winced at the thought of the scarring that was sure to happen. "Okay. Where's a bathroom? And before you ask, it's so we can clean that up," I added quickly.

The redhead started to stand, but suddenly sat back down onto the bed, hissing in pain. He looked up at me with a hopeful spark in his eye, and I couldn't help but sigh. I went over to his side and hoisted him up around the waist, using his black pant's belt loop.

His arm came up around my shoulder as he staggered to his feet, steadying himself. But before we moved, he turned his face to me and said, "The name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

"Whatever, Sparky." I said to him, more worried about getting his heavy body to the bathroom.

"No. Not Whatever. I'm Axel. And you are?" Axel's eyes bored into me, and I sighed in frustration.

"Okay, 'Axel'. I'm Yukiru, but my friends call me Yuki. At least they would if I _had_ any friends."

I let him wrap that around his brain while I found the bathroom, which thankfully wasn't too far down the hall from the bedroom. It was an old timey one, with a tub that stood up on feet. The décor was nice enough, at least, white with gold trim. I closed the door, set Axel down on the toilet in there, and then turned on the hot water, waiting for it to heat up enough.

Next thing I knew, there was a loud crashing and scrabbling sound from behind me. I turned around to see Axel frantically trying to claw his way through the door, but only managing to start the blood flowing down his back. It was pitiful to see, but instead of pity, I felt anger.

I stopped him and held him back. "What the hell are you _doing_?" I screamed at the hysterical red head.

"Are you crazy?!" he yelled back, still trying to get away. I pinned his arms to his side, actually able to hold on, he was that weakened. Yet he still struggled, and I got even madder.

I smacked him upside the head, stunning him, and then proceeded to drag his sorry butt to the tub. "Chill out, you idiot! It's just hot water!"

Weirdo that he was, he actually perked up at this. "It's hot?" he asked, eyeing the tub warily.

I found myself face-palming, and then glared at him through my fingers. "If you see steam rising from the damn tub, you don't think that the water wouldn't be scalding?!" I asked, incredulous. What the hell was up with this guy?

"Oh." That was the only word he said, and Axel actually managed to look sheepish.

I rolled my eyes, and then said, "Get ready to get in. And keep your underwear on at least!" I added as an afterthought. When I turned to put some cold water in the flow, he smacked my hand. I yelped, and turned to glare at him, but wound up blushing when I saw his figure. Then I was confused. Why would a guy have those kind of hips? It made him look like a freaking hour-glass!

Shaking my head to clear it once more, I turned back to the scalding flow. Grabbing a cloth I took from the room, I dunked it in, and told Axel, who had just slipped into the water with absolutely no cry at how hot the water was, "This is going to sting..."

Axel flinched at the shock of the wet cloth on his open wound, but other than that, the redhead didn't seem affected. He tried to help me, but I mumbled that I knew what I was doing.

I finally finished up and drained the tub. The 'fire bandages' were held out to me, and I began to wrap Axel's upper torso in the cloth. I secured them in the front for ease of access, and then looked up to find Axel's face dangerously close to mine. I felt my heart skip a beat.

Axel blinked in surprise, but his emerald eyes quickly switched mischief, and he grinned as he said in a husky voice, "So, you know what you're doing, huh? Let's see about that one, Yuki."

And before I could even react, he had leaned down a whole head lower to connect our lips together in a mind-stopping kiss.

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Alright, mina-san (everyone) please review! tell me what you like and don't like, and what you expect later, kay? I want to know!!!

^w^ kittykittykitty!


	3. Kiss, Kiss! Slap, Slap!

Chapter 2: kiss, kiss! Smack! Smack!

My mind literally froze. It shut down, and all I could feel was those warm, soft lips of Axel's slowly moving on mine, trying to get a reaction out of me. And I'm ashamed to say that he got it.

My eyelids slipped shut on their own, and my lips moved with his in a way that sent pleasant tingles down my spine. And his bare chest in front of me didn't go unnoticed. My hands glided over his chest, feeling the surprisingly soft skin there, and the strong muscles beneath that moved as his arms came up and wrapped around my slim figure.

That one kiss seemed to last for an eternity. That one, perfect kiss…and my very first one. That thought sprang up in my mind, and returned me to my senses at once. I pushed away from Axel, holding him away at arms length.

Axel looked at me, confusion in his eyes as I raised a hand to my lips. What the hell had just happened?! "I-I… Y-you..." I stuttered. Oh. My. God. Some punk with spiky red hair had just stolen my first kiss!

Axel just sat there watching me freak for a few minutes, and then finally interrupted, saying, "Can I have a little help? I'd like to get back to that bedroom now. I'm bushed"

The last sentence set off alarms inside my head. "No!" I said loudly, scrambling backwards, only to find myself up against the closed door. Damn it. "There is no way in hell that I'm going to take you anywhere _near_ a bed! Not after that!"

Axel looked surprised, but then he chuckled. "Damn, girl. Get your mind out of the gutter. It was only a kiss. I was only showing you that you can't really have everything under control."

"Uh-huh, uh-huh, suuure. I'm still not coming anywhere near you. You can damn well get back to that room on your own!" I was so flat against the door, I could have been one of the boards.

A piece of light being reflected drew my attention to the key Axel held up in his right hand. Slowly, my hand found the knob, and I tried to turn it.

Locked.

When had he done it? Who cares? I was locked in with a guy who had stolen my first kiss, and the only way to get out would be to either kick his smug ass, or ask him for it.

Either way, I'd have to go over to him to get it. Damn it all.

I sighed, straightened up, and walked determinedly forward. When I stood just out of his arm's reach, I made a snag at the key. He swept it out of my way, transferring it to the other hand.

As I made another go at it, I realized that if I made another grab for it, I'd be leaning over him. But it was just a bit too late for that.

First, this jerk had taken my first kiss, and now he was making me lay over his lap, reaching for a damned key, my nose halfway to the floor at this pint. Could I get any more embarrassed?

By now Axel was laughing so hard, tears were streaking down his face. I saw my chance, and grabbed the key from his hand and jumped out of reach.

"Good job! But you need to work on your thinking time if you want to be able to beat me, Yuki." Axel got up, staggered a bit, but using the wall as a support, was able to walk up behind me as I tried to unlock the stubborn door.

Gently, the redhead took my hands in his and used them to unlock the door. We stood there a moment more before he leaned forward. As I tried to calm my beating heart, he rested his head on my shoulder. Damn, he was tall. I know that I'm tall, especially for a girl, but he was at least half a foot more so than my own 5'9 frame!

"I'm going to fall asleep on you if you don't start going down that hall way." Axel warned me, making me start. His warm breath on my neck sent more shivers up my spine.

Angry at myself for liking anything that this Jackass did, I grabbed him around his waist, managed to grab his pants in the other hand, and walked to quickly back to the room.

"Ouch! Talk about burning a hole in my heart, honey," he chuckled amusedly as I flopped him down onto the bed. Walking away from the bedside, I was growled low and menacingly.

"Hey! Where ya goin'?" Axel called out to me.

In answer, because I'd reached the wall I'd been going towards, I pulled my fist back and let it fly.

Many loud _thuds_ echoed around the room. Axel remained quiet while I took my anger out on the wall. After I tired of that, I walked over and plopped down in a chair that resided near to the bed, but not too near. Silence took over, and I welcomed it.

Axel cleared his throat after about five minutes. "I guess I'm not the only one, eh?"

I turned to glare at Axel. "The only one that what?"

"Is bi-polar. Well, that's what people tell me anyway." He shrugged, but then regretted the action when pain made him wince.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not bi-polar, I just have anger problems. That's what I take it out on." I pointed to the wall I'd pummeled.

"Hmmm…" He was thinking over this. Hopefully, he was thinking twice about keeping me here. Oh, wait. The deal was done. _Thank the stars._ I stood up and stretched, then walked to the door. "Well, good luck, Axel. Take care of that wound," I said as I went, waving my hand without looking back at him.

"Oh, no you don't" Axel whispered, just loud enough for me to hear. He snapped his fingers. Suddenly, flames shot up from in front of the doorway just as I was reaching towards the knob. Swearing colorfully, I leapt back, and then turned to glare at the redhead on the bed. "What the hell?!"

"I never said you could leave," he stated plainly.

Shock gave me strength. "You said I could go after I helped you!" I cried. What was this guy playing at?

He grinned at the reminder. "I never said when you could go after, and also I'm not healed yet, so I need your help still."

His eyes flashed in triumph, while mine flashed in rage. _He really wants to get knocked off that high horse, doesn't he?_ I thought menacingly. Again, I went toward the door. Another fire blockade came up. "Auughhh!"

"Now, now. No more of that," he scolded me, his voice smug as his face once more. An idea came into my head, and I smiled sweetly. I came towards him until I stood in front of him, still smiling. Axel had a cautious look on his face.

"I don't give a damn what you want." Axel frowned at that, caution giving way to irritation. I leaned so my face was a few inches from his, making sure he saw the anger in my eyes. "And Sparky? You can stick that attitude up your-"

What I had been saying ended in a shriek as Axel suddenly and unexpectedly pulled me down onto the bed and pinned me beneath him once more.

"What did I say about being rude like that?" His face was twisted in a dark scowl. I didn't struggle for about eight seconds, until the shock wore off. I bucked like a bronco, trying desperately to throw him off of me. It didn't work, and all he did was stare down at me, his expression unreadable.

As I fought his grip, I cried out in anger, "What are you?!"

Axel's grip tightened and his whole body became rigid as a board. I froze, suddenly very aware of the position we were in. Aw, crap…

Axel's emerald eyes closed, and he breathed out, obviously calming himself. Then he took both of my wrists in one of his hands (his fingers sure were long enough, that was for sure), and pulled my head up to his chest, right where I could hear his heart.

I didn't hear anything.

Suddenly he released me, knowing that I wouldn't move. He was right. Gently, I pressed my ear in the approximate area in which that familiar _th-thump, th-thump, _searching for it.

Nothing.

I quickly looked at Axel's face, which had been watching mine carefully the whole time, still expressionless as before. "Wh-where is it?" I whispered.

Axel shook his head, and then pushed me back down onto the bed again. "Go to sleep." He lay down next to me and wrapped his arms around my waist, making sure that I couldn't go anywhere anytime soon.

Before long, I heard his breathing even out, and I was left alone in the dark, since the sun had sank long ago. A wave of exhaustion swept over me, and my eyes fluttered closed. But before I fell asleep, a single thought passed through my head: _What the hell have I gotten myself into now?_


End file.
